Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $500.84.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $504.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Saia in a research note on Monday, March 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $676.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Saia from $500.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Douglas L. Col sold 1,812 shares of Saia stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total value of $1,010,643.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,136,228.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas L. Col sold 1,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total transaction of $1,010,643.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,136,228.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Raymond R. Ramu sold 1,943 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.83, for a total transaction of $1,099,407.69. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,516,246.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,699 shares of company stock valued at $14,966,813 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Saia by 5.7% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Saia by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 221 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saia by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Saia by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 319 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Saia by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter.

Saia Stock Performance

Saia stock opened at $522.62 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $571.83 and its 200-day moving average is $477.05. Saia has a 1 year low of $244.69 and a 1 year high of $628.34. The company has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.62.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The transportation company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.13. Saia had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company had revenue of $751.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Saia will post 16.13 earnings per share for the current year.

About Saia

Saia, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a transportation company in North America. The company provides less-than-truckload services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds; and other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. It also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services.